Professor Abd ElWahab ElMessiri, a prominent Arab specialist on Judaism and Jewish culture, said that it is very important to know what kind of discourse should be used in the West when dealing with the issue of the peace process, arguing that Jews managed to convince the West with some myths about Arabs and Muslims that Arabs and Muslims themselves, have come to accept.

One of these myths is the existence of one unified Jewish people. A belief that elMessiri states is not true. In an effort to illustrate his position, ElMessiri gave examples highlighting the differences between Falasha and American Jews; an example disproving the myth.

Even within American society, Jewish public figures show how much they vary in religious belief, ranging from orthodoxy to atheism.

ElMessiri called for the need to separate the two dimensions of the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians: one political, and the other, religious.

ElMessiri stated the recent Camp David negotiations broke down on the issue of political sovereignty over Jerusalem and not the religious one, therefore the conflict should be viewed in that political context.

Contrary to that analysis, Rafiq Jaber, Secretary General of the Islamic Association of Palestine, stood firm on the religiousness of the conflict and the importance of deriving Jerusalem's identity not from the international law, but from the Holy Qur'an and Sunnah.

"Every time we compromise, they take more.

If it is not a religious war then what is it?" he said.

Jaber objected to the stance of the current leadership of the Palestinian Authority during the peace negotiations, saying that they were willing to sell out Palestinian land for a miniscule price.

Moderator of the session Khaled Turaani, Executive Director of American Muslims for Jerusalem, a Washington based organization specialized in providing an Islamic perspective on Jerusalem to the media and policy makers, agreed, saying it is a very religious issue.

"We always hear one side of the story that Jews have emotional attachment to the city, and that they are victimized and that they should go back," said Turaani, "We reached a point to say 'No, it's an occupied city and there is Israeli military occupation and that has to stop.'"

Turaani called on American Muslims to be active in reaching out to local American policy makers in order to tell them the other side of the story.

There is a need to defend the issue of Palestine on a personal level by writing letters to the American president and reaching out to local newspapers and other policy officers to let them know of the current ethnic cleansing of Muslim and Christian Palestinians in the occupied territories, he said.

"We have to present our rights with historical, religious and national documents," said Ossama Mohamad, another panelist who is Assistant Secretary of the Muslim World Congress. His presentation was based on the need to understand the other, their plans, strategies and ambitions.

"We have to unify our cultural speech towards the other," he said.

Ezzat Jaradat, a former minister of education in the Jordanian Kingdom, gave historical background to the conflict and how Jews were transplanted forcefully in the Palestinian body. He asserted that Jerusalem is the essence of the Palestinian issue.

Saeed AlHassan, member of the founding committee of the General Conference of Support for Jerusalem, said that Jerusalem is a symbol of Arab Islamic civilization, and if it is ignored, it will lead to a more explosive conflict in the area.

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